Kim's Tart

Kim's Apple Tart: Better Late than Never

Crust:

1/2 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

Press in springform or tart pan, bake at 350F for 8-10 min.

Filling:

Cream 6 oz. Neufchatel or cream cheese (Neufchatel is supposedly less fat with all the flavor)

Stir in:

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbsp. cream (or milk)

1/2 c. ricotta cheese

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

Pour over crust.

Topping-Apple Part:

Peel, core, and slice 2 Granny Smith apples

Splash some lemon juice over top so they don't get brown and stir them up

Set aside

Bring to boil:

3/4 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

Splash of vanilla

3 slices apple

Mix 1/4 c. water and 2 Tbsp. clear jel (or cornstarch, you poor thing)

Add to boiling mixture, stirring constantly til thick.

Remove from heat and add:

~2 tsp. cinnamon

~1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Pour over sliced apples. Stir together. Layer over the cream/crust layer. Bake at 350F for about 45 min. or til you think the creamy layer is cooked.

Ok, so. I just had my first piece and it's quite delicious, if I do say so myself. I didn't want the texture of the cream part to be completely creamy, so I like the ricotta for that. However, next time I think I would add some more lemon juice and a bit more sugar to that part. The crust was delicious, but I wanted it to be a bit more phyllo-dough-like than it was. I really loved the apple part, and overall it wasn't that sweet which is what I was going for as well (not that I was trying to be like Robyn or anything). :) I'm pretty pleased with it. Oh, please don't think I'm so fancy that I keep ricotta on hand. I just happened to have some leftover from a lasagna and thought it would be good in there. :) Also: this turns out quite thin and would easily fit in a tart pan, which is also what I was going for. Pictures to follow.

The Best Apple Tart

(like my title?)
This was a little tough, since I was supposed to be copying something I've never tasted! I thought I'd go for more of a European flavour - in my limited experience this means buttery and not too sweet. This was on the thin side, but I thought the "height" of it was perfect. I wanted something that actually was more of a tart, in case one day I actually own tart pans and could make little ones.
I happened to have leftover hazelnuts from Christmas, so I used those in the crumb topping. It tasted really good while I was snitching it, but after it was baked, I couldn't really taste them.
Oh, one important thing: I lost the paper that I was jotting things down on as I baked this. So, sorry in advance if you try this and it doesn't turn out. This is my guess.
Anyway, without anything farther, here is my recipe:

Crust:
1 C flour
1/2 C icing sugar
1/2 C butter
1 egg yolk
enough cream to make a soft dough
Mix flour and icing sugar and rub in butter with your hands. Leave some chunks. Mix in egg yolk and cream until soft but not too sticky. Use some extra flour to press dough into pan.
(I used an 8" springform pan)

Chop 4 large apples and place evenly on crust. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Mix together the following and put on top of apples:
1/2 C ground hazelnuts
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C oatmeal that has been ground in a blender
2 Tbsp butter

Bake at 350F until crumbs are golden and you're sure crust and apples are done. Don't underbake it.

[I wouldn't bother with the caramel sauce I made. It was more like a butter sauce, and even though it was good, I would have preferred this without it.]

All in all, I would give this a very high rating, Thank you, Karla.
I loved the crust. I loved the topping. It was very buttery and not too sweet. Yum.

Karla's Apple Tart

Crust
Blend:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Cut in:
1/2 cup butter

Add:
¼ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix to form a soft dough, and press into 9” tart pan or springform pan. I used a springform; I really don't know how a tart pan would be.

Filling:

5 cups Granny Smith apples (about 3 large), peeled and sliced

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. salt

Mix well and pour on top of unbaked crust.

Crumb topping:

Blend:

¾ cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Cut in:

1/3 cup butter

Spread crumbs evenly over apples. Bake tart at 400 F for 40 minutes.

Caramel Topping:

½ cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3 Tbsp. butter

¼ cup whole milk or heavy cream

Boil the sugar and water, whisking constantly, until the sugar turns brown. Add butter and continue whisking until butter melts. Remove from heat, stir for a few more seconds, and then add milk or cream. Caution: there will be a lot of steam when you pour the milk in, and you might burn your hand off! Keep whisking until it’s slightly cooled. Drizzle desired amount on the tart. Wow. The crust could use a little improvement, but overall it was quite good, if I may say so myself.

Rhonda's Apple Tart

Crust:

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp salted butter

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

Mix the flour and icing sugar, then cut the butter in with a pastry blender. With a fork, mix the yolks and vanilla together, then gently combine with the flour mixture. Mixture will stay crumbly, but not dry. Reserve 1/2 cup of crumbs and press the rest into a pie or tart pan. (I suppose a springform pan would work well, too. Chill crust for 20-30 minutes and then bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Press down any bubbles that formed while baking.

Apple filling:

Peel, core and slice 4 medium apples (a good baking variety if you can get them!)

Toss the apple slices with 2 tsp lemon juice. Mix together the following and then combine with the apples:

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

Place the filling into the crust.

Crumb topping:

Cut together with a pastry blender:

reserved crumbs from the crust

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Evenly top the apples with this mixture.

Bake at 350*F for about 30 minutes or until the apples are soft.

I made a caramel sauce for topping the tart, but I forgot to write down exactly how I made it. :) You're on your own for that, I guess.

My taste testers (and I) enjoyed this a lot, but the Chief Taste Tester in my house says he will take an ordinary apple pie any day. :) I liked the way this turned out, but thought the caramel sauce made it a little too sweet for me. Good idea, Karla!

Recipe Challenge #2

Welcome to the 2nd challenge! We shall call this one "The Apple Tart Challenge." Kirk and I visited a bakery called Ganache Dessert Kitchen (Google it, I don't feel like linking it...lazy me) a couple of weeks ago, and boy was that not a mistake. Their chocolate ganache-y things were good, as far as we tasted, but my favorite item from our box of loot was the apple tart. It was about 3 inches in diameter, so it was not a little wimpy tart. It had a perfect buttery crust; kind of cookie-ish, kind of pie crust-ish. The apples were slightly tart, but spiced so, so well. There was a delicious crumb topping, and then homemade caramel drizzled on top. I can't describe how delicious it was.

So, I dare you to try your hand at making the most outrageously delicious apple tart you can. Then, simply box it up and send it to me asap. I will be the judge in this challenge. Or at least post pictures and your recipe. I will give you until February 10 to complete this challenge. If you do not participate (Robyn) you will be disqualified.

Kim's Italian Enchiladas

Well, I decided to make my experiment into a little date night, so we started with this:

And finished with this:

Here's my recipe:

Sauce:

8 roma tomatoes, halved

3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and whole

1 onion, quartered

5-7 leaves fresh basil

olive oil

salt

pepper

Place all ingredients except basil on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10 minutes, adding basil for an additional 2-3 minutes. Blend together in blender.

Filling:

1 lb. spicy sausage

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz. cottage cheese

1 can cannellini

1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

2 roma tomatoes, diced

Fry sausage with onions and garlic, drain. Mix all 7 ingredients together.

Cook 1 box (12 noodles) wide lasagna, al dente. Drain. Pour half the sauce into 9x13" pan. Place scoop of filling in each noodle, rolling to form "enchilada" shape. Cover with last half of sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and brown on top.

Ok, despite the poorly written instructions, this actually turned out pretty well. As you can see, I leaned more towards Italian and less towards Mexican. My "Mexican" influences were the spiciness of the meat, the beans, and the shape of the enchiladas. Next time I will make a few changes, such as: Use a high-quality spicy sausage, or else use plain sausage and season it yourself. Make sure not to use old noodles, because they're gross. In fact, it might be fun to make your own or buy fresh. And one last tidbit: The sauce part makes a delicious roasted tomato basil soup.

Italian Enchilada Challenge

Did anyone join us in this challenge? If you did, we'd love to see your results. Just leave a link to your blog in the comments and we'll come visit you. Thanks for playing!

Rhonda's Italian Enchiladas

Meatballs:

1 lb ground beef

½ cup bread crumbs

1 egg

½ cup milk

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp herbes de provence

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (real, please)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper (or more, if you like)

Mix all ingredients together and shape into small meatballs. Bake at 350 until browned and cooked through (15 minutes?). Cool slightly and mix with 1 ½ cups spaghetti sauce.

------

Cheese Sauce:

1 envelope béchamel sauce mix, prepared according to directions

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 cup fromage blanc

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp dried basil

3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

2/3 cup grated cheese (mozza, or something similar)

Prepare béchamel sauce and then stir in the other ingredients.

-----

6 large flour tortillas

2 ¼ cups grated cheese (mozza, or something similar)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Herbes de provence

Fill each tortilla with 6-7 meatballs and sauce, 2-3 tbsp grated cheese and a sprinkle of herbes de provence. Roll them up like burritos.

Spread 1 cup cheese sauce in the bottom of a 9x13” pan. Place filled tortillas over the sauce, and pour remaining sauce over them. Top with remaining cheeses and a generous sprinkle of herbes de provence.

Bake at 400F until bubbly and golden.

These were pretty tasty. I asked my family to rate them on a scale of 1 – 10 and they gave an average score of 6. Matthew and I both thought it was like eating a meatball sub, and for us that’s a good thing!

Karla's Italian Enchiladas

Saute until soft:
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. oil

Mix:
3 cups cottage cheese
5 chicken legs, cooked, deboned, and chopped
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
black pepper to taste
Add the sauteed onions and garlic

18 corn tortillas
28 oz. red enchilada sauce

1/2 - 1 cup Mild cheddar, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 F. Dip six tortillas into enchilada sauce and arrange in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan to cover the bottom of the pan. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over the layer of tortillas. Repeat. Top with a 3rd layer of tortillas dipped in sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, top with cheese, and return to oven until cheese is melted. Serves: 8-10

Oh my. I am ashamed to claim this as my own. At first I was going to roll up the tortillas to bake them, but then I thought "Oooh, I'll make it like a lasagna! Clever!" Not clever enough. It is not the worst thing ever, but it is not delicious by any stretch of the imagination. Here are the problems I (and Kirk) have with it:
1) I only put in about 1/2 tsp. of salt
2) I did four layers of tortillas, which was way too much
3) Italian seasoning does not work with red enchilada sauce
4) I don't really like red enchilada sauce (should've at least used green)

I imagine that if 8-10 people were actually sitting down at my table to eat this (heaven forbid), one would say they like it (bachelor), one would say it's pretty good (don't want to hurt my feelings), two would say it's not too bad (no taste in good food) and the rest would have to admit it's just not good at all. Seriously, don't make this!

Recipe Challenge #1

Is anyone out there up for a challenge in the kitchen?

This recipe challenge is the first of (hopefully many) challenges to get us all feeling a little more creative in the kitchen.

The "rules" are:
1. You can't use a recipe...this must be your own invention!
2. That's all the rules.

For this first challenge, your invention will have the title of "ITALIAN ENCHILADAS."

On November 1st, we will post our creations. Anyone who wants to participate can either leave a comment on those posts with a link to your blog, or you can email us your recipe and we can post it for you.

Please join our game...we'd love to have your participation!